volga bulgarian/bashkir weapons?

TVV · 28th July 2009, 08:49 PM

Personally, I find it highly unlikely that the Danube Bulgarians switched their edged weapons due to any religious reasons. If there was a change in Bulgarian weapons, it was likely due to the constant trading and warfare with the Empire, which lead to an exchange of tactics and weapons. After a few centuries in the Balkans, apart from any local production, imported blades and hilts were much more likely to come from the Eastern Roman Empire and Central/Western Europe rather than from the Central Asian production centers.

The frescoes are much later, from the Second Bulgarian Tsardom at a time, when Bulgarians have been Christians for centuries (same for the Serbs). When it comes to the First Bulgarian Tsardom however, none of the archaeological finds seem to support the theory that the hilts the Bulgarians were using changed after the conversion to Christianity. Of course, the sample of finds is too small to make any generic conclusions anyway.

The topic was for the Volga Bulgarians and their weapons, however, which are even more obscure. Trying to come up with ideas on what Bulgarians from Kazan and Bolghar could have used based on what has been found in Pliska and Preslav may be tricky - there certainly were some similarities as certain shapes were left from the times when all Bulgarians lived in a common country, but the distance and the differences in cultural and military influences must have also played a part.

Best regards,
Teodor

28th July 2009, 08:49 PM	#7
TVV Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Bay Area Posts: 1,660	Personally, I find it highly unlikely that the Danube Bulgarians switched their edged weapons due to any religious reasons. If there was a change in Bulgarian weapons, it was likely due to the constant trading and warfare with the Empire, which lead to an exchange of tactics and weapons. After a few centuries in the Balkans, apart from any local production, imported blades and hilts were much more likely to come from the Eastern Roman Empire and Central/Western Europe rather than from the Central Asian production centers. The frescoes are much later, from the Second Bulgarian Tsardom at a time, when Bulgarians have been Christians for centuries (same for the Serbs). When it comes to the First Bulgarian Tsardom however, none of the archaeological finds seem to support the theory that the hilts the Bulgarians were using changed after the conversion to Christianity. Of course, the sample of finds is too small to make any generic conclusions anyway. The topic was for the Volga Bulgarians and their weapons, however, which are even more obscure. Trying to come up with ideas on what Bulgarians from Kazan and Bolghar could have used based on what has been found in Pliska and Preslav may be tricky - there certainly were some similarities as certain shapes were left from the times when all Bulgarians lived in a common country, but the distance and the differences in cultural and military influences must have also played a part. Best regards, Teodor